Ball lift for pinsetting machine



March 31, 1970 D. E. TRUBEY BALL LIFT FOR PIN-SETTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22, 1968 INVENTOR DONALD E, TRUBEY /Dzz /l/W ATTORNEYS March 3l, 1970 D. E. TRUBEY BALL LIFT FOR PINSETTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1968 FIGZ INVENTOR DONALD E. TRUBEY ATTORNEYS March 31, 1970 D@ E. TRUBEY 3,503,610

BALL LIFT FOR PINSETTING MACHINE Filed June 22, 1968 4 sheds-sheet :s

FIG. 3

INVENTOR DONALD E. TRUBEY ATTORNEYS March 3l, 1970 D. E. TR'UBEY 3,503,610

BALL LIFT FOR PINSETTING MACHINE Filed June 22, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 7| /12 /93 72 i l a 94 /56 I 6e l* FIG. 4

INVENTOR DONALD E. TRUBEY ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,503,610 BALL LIFT FOR PINSETTING MACHINE Donald E. Trubey, 34 Depot St., Westford, Mass. 01886 Filed June 22, 1966, Ser. No. 559,452 Int. Cl. A63d 5/02 U.S. Cl. 273-43 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ball separating and lifting means for use in a bowling pinsetting machine used in conjunction with a bowling game where the diameter of the ball exceeds the diameter of the pins. The means comprises two basic elements, a ramp member located in and on the wall of the pit at the rear of a bowling alley and a rotating member located above the pit floor at a distance suicient to permit pins to pass freely thereunder. The balls are forced to assume a predetermined path adjacent the edge of the floor and are carried by the motion of the pit floor into contact with the rotating member. Upon contact with the rotating member the balls are forced sideways and upwardly from the predetermined path into a ball elevator. A blocking member is provided to prevent any ball which for any reason devates from the predetermined path from coming into contact with the rotating member. The rotating member includes an elevating belt pulley and a flexible disk mounted on a common shaft, with the pulley mounted ahead of the disk relative to the direction of travel of the bowling balls.

This invention relates to a ball separator and ball lift for use in conjunction with an automatic bowling pinsetting machine, It especially relates to a ball separator and ball lift adapted to separate balls directly from the fallen pin in the pit area of a bowling alley, and to expedite the return of the ball to the bowler. This invention is especially useful in conjunction with those bowling pinsetting machines wherein the pit of the bowling alley is provided with a rotating ball and pin transferring turn table. While the ball lift of the present invention was developed especially for use in conjunction with ten pin pinsetting machines, it is equally useful in pinsetting machines designed for other bowling games provided the diameter of the ball is substantially greater than the maximum diameter of the pin.

Over the years the automatic bowling pinsetting machine has become a well developed mechanical entity with almost universal acceptance, especially in the United States. The major emphasis in the continuing development of such machines in recent years has been the reduction of the pinsetting and resetting cycle times so that a game can be bowled in a shorter time in the absence of any delays resulting from the pinsetting machine operation.

The reduction in machine cycle time has created a secondary problem especially in the game of ten pins, namely that of expediting return of the ball to the bowler. The cause of this secondary problem can be readily understood when one remembers that in the game of ten pins, unless all of the pins are knocked down with the first ball, each bowler bowls twice in succession, and that it is very common for each bowler to have his own personal ball. There is thus little to be gained in speeding up the cycle of the machine itself if at the end of the resetting cycle when the deadwood has been swept clear of the alley tand the standing pins reset, the bowlers ball has not reached his position at the front of the alley.

It is the general object of this invention therefore to ice provide means to expedite the separation of the ball from the pins in the pit area, and to expedite the return of the ball to the bowler.

Before proceeding with the detailed description of the invention it may be well to review some of the problems involved in the handling of -balls and of pins in automatic pinsetting machines. The ten pin ball, according to speciiications adopted by the American Bowling Congress, has a diameter between 8.500 and 8.595 with a maximum weight of sixteen pounds. The ten pin pin has a height of l5i0.031", has a maximum diameter of 4.766 $0.031" and a weight between 3 lbs., 4 Oz. and 3 lbs. l0 oz. The pit referred to above is a depressed area at the rear end of the alley measuring 601/s"i% in width between the kickbacks. The floor of the pit is at least 10 below the level of the pin deck at the tail plank in the case of ordinary non-mechanized alleys, and at least 3%f below the level of the pin deck in the case of alleys provided with automatic pinsetters. A cushion or back stop arranged horizontally across the pit to prevent the rebound of balls or pins is provided at least 30" behind the end of the pin deck excluding the tail plank in ordinary alleys, and at least 25" behind the end of the pin deck in alleys provided with automatic pinsetters. The pit is provided to receive spent balls and fallen pins.

In the operation of an automatic pinsetter the used pins and balls are rst deposited in the pit and are retumed from the pit either to the ball return in the case of the balls, or to the pinsetter itself in the case of the pins. There are at present three different types of approved ten pin pinsetting machines each of which employs a different method of handling the balls and pits in the pit area. In one, the pit iloor is provided with a full width rearwardly moving conveyor belt. Means are provided which means may include the cushion or backstop which normally is set with a clearance above the pit floor such as to pass pins and not pass balls to roll the ball laterally toward a predetermined point at one edge of the pit while continuing to move the pin in a general directly rearward direction beneath the backstop to a pin collecting area in the back portion of the pit.

In the second, the pit floor is set at an angle such that the rear is substantially lower than the front and the floor is caused to vibrate to induce the movement of both pins and balls towards the rear. Behind the backstop the walls of the pit are narrowed to form a narrow funnel-like passage for the pins and balls. The funnel area is provided with a large transversely rotating bill lift drum through which passes both the pins and the balls and a large transverse pin lift wheel. In this arrangement means are provided to move the backstop out of the way after a ball has entered the pit to permit the passage of both the pins and the ball into the funnel area. The ball lift drum rolls the ball away from the pins.

In the third type of machine, the pit is provided with a rotating turntable which normally is about 40" in diameter, which turntable has a slighlty conical shape, the center being slightly higher than the edge. The space between the walls of the pit and the edge of the turntable is provided with a shaped ller or contour which slopes from the pit wall toward the turntable, and which at the turntable edge is raised above the level of the edge of the turntable by a distance of an inch or so. In this type of pit arrangement, which is described in greater detail in, for example, Dowd and Barrows U.S. Patent 3,070,369, issued Dec. 25, 1962 or in Dowd, Barrows and Landry U.S. patent application Ser. No. 286,015, led June 6, 1963 now U.S. Patent 3,272,508, issued Sept. 13, 1966, the sloping floors of the turntable and of the contour tend to induce the balls and the pins to circulate around the pit on the rotating turntable in a single line dened by the junction of the turntable and the raised inner edge of the contour. The balls since they are spherical will tend to roll to this track sooner than the pins. Again in this type of pit the bottom of the backstop is set at a level that provides a clearance above the top of the turntable which will permit pins to pass freely underneath, but which will prevent the passage of balls except at a predetermined location where the bottom of the backstop is raised sufliciently to permit the balls to pass therebetween. In a conventional arrangement of this type the ball gate in the backstop is provided at the position where the rotation of the turntable will carry the ball into the back portion of the pit behind the backstop where it is trapped by the continuing rotation of the turntable and the lack of adequate clearance 'between the backstop and the turntable.

In all three types of pit arrangements, the general method used to separate the balls from the pins relies on the larger diameter of the ball to move the ball laterally away from the pins into a ball receiving area. Under normal conditions, and especially where the speed of separation of a ball from the pins is of no real concern, the commercial embodiments of all three arrangements work very well indeed.

However, there are a number of things that can happen in the pit area of a vbowling alley which interfere with the normal operation of the conventional ball and pin separating means, and which delay the separation of the ball from the pins. It must be remembered that pins, and especially balls, are likely to be propelled into the pit area with great force which causes them to carom around bouncing olf the backstop, the curtain or the kickbacks in all directions causing the ball or the pin as the case may be to land in the most unlikely position. Then too the pins, because of their elongated unsymmetrical shape, have a tendency to bind on one another and to form jams with each other or with stationary members in the general pit area. Because of its greater diameter, and because of its increased mobility due to its spherical shape, there is no problem at all in keeping. the ball out of the pin collecting and lifting means. However, there is, and has always been, a substantial problem in keeping pins from interfering with the lateral progress of the ball toward the ball collecting and lifting means and indeed, from entering into such ball collecting and lifting means. Indeed, the lateral motion of the ball itself may force some pins into the ball collecting and lifting means. A review of the art shows a number of ingenious devices developed over the years either for preventing the entry of pins into the ball collecting area, or for ejecting pins once they have so entered.

The point is that the milling around of the balls and the pins in the pit area which impedes the lateral motion of the ball, the blocking of the entry to the ball receiving means by a pin; or the entry into the ball receiving area 'by a pin all serve to delay the separation of the Iballs from the pins and the return of both the balls and the pins to their respective positions. A delay in the collection and return of pins creates no real problem since as set u-p any of the automatic pinsetting machines has enough pins in storage so that the game is not delayed because of any delay in the return of the pins to the pinsetter itself except under very extreme conditions. The delay in the return of the ball is a more serious matter since, as explained above, especially in the game of ten pins, the bowler cant or at least wont, bowl a second time until his ball is returned to him.

The specic object of this invention is to provide means that can be suspended over the pit, and especially over a pit of the turntable type, and which will lift |balls as they pass thereunder directly into a ball elevator for return to the bowler while permitting the pins to pass unmolested thereunder.

These and ether objects of this invention will be better understood from the detailed description which follows, and from the drawings, in which:

FIG. l is an elevation in perspective of the ball separating the elevating means of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the device in FIG. l.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation partially in section of the device of FIG. l.

FIG. 4 is a section along line 4 4 of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring to the drawings, the pit area 11 is indicated generally by kickback 12, backstop 13, and turntable 14 and contour 15. As is customary the inner edge of contour 15 is about 1% to 2 above the edge o-f turntable 14 with both the contour 15 and turntable 14 sloping downwardly toward the common intersection. Turntable 14 rotates in a clockwise direction as shown.

The ball lift 21 which comprises conveyor unit 22 and guide unit 23 is mounted on the left rear corner of the pit 11. Conveyor unit 22 comprises two vertically extending side members 24 and 25 joined by cross braces as indicated at 26 and 27, and by motor brace 28, and is mounted on the rear wall (not shown) of pit 11 by mounting member 29. A brace 30 is provided between an intermediate portion of side members 24 and 25 and kickback 12.

Upper and lower pulley shafts 31 and 32 are journaled between side members 24 and 25, one at the top, the other at the bottom in such manner that both are horizontal and extend parallel to the axis of the alley. Lower shaft 32 is centered exactly 12% Vabove the level of the edge of turntable 14, and upper shaft 31 is centered at a convenient height (about 5' above the level of the edge of turntable 14) to insure that the ball has sucient elevation to roll onto the existing ball return in the particular alley as it exists from lift 21. Upper pulley shaft 31 is rotated by means of drive pulley 33 attached thereto outboard of side member 24. Drive pulley 33 is driven by drive belt 34 which passes over drive pulley 3S of motor 36 which is mounted on motor brace 28.

Upper pulley shaft 31 is provided with a pulley 37 and lower pulley shaft 32 is provided with a pulley 38, both of which are locted on the respective shafts between side member 24 and side member 25, and are adapted to carry endless belt 39 running therebetween. Belt 39 conveniently is a reinforced elastomeric belt of the type generally known as variable speed belt, and is about 11/2 wide and 1/2" thick. Pulleys 37 and 38 which are conveniently about 2 wide are provided with .a central groove 11/2l wide and 1/2 thick to provide a track for positioning belt 39. The effective diameter of both pulley 37 and pulley 38 is 6%. measured at the surface of belt 39. A belt tensioning means comprising roller 41 which is pivotally mounted on arm 42 pivotally mounted on side member 24 and which is tensioned against belt 39 by springs 43 .and 44 is mounted to press against the outer side of the downward run of belt 39 and to insure that the belt remains under tension. A backing plate 35 mounted on cross braces 26 and 27 is provided behind the upward run of belt 39 to insure that the upward run of belt 39 will move vertically tangentially between pulleys 38 and 37 without deecting.

Lower pulley shaft 32 is provided with a plurality of rubber and fiber disks as follows: On the inside (toward the backstop 13) of pulley 38 there is provided a pliable rubber disk 46 which is 61/2 in diameter and 1/2 thick. On the outside (away from the backstop 13) there is provided in succession away from pulley 38 a ber disk 47 which is 61/2" in diameter and 1/2" thick, a pliable rubber disk 48 which is 7% in diameter and 1/2 thick, a pliable rubber disk 49 which is 81/2 in diameter and 1/z thick, and finally a fiber disk 51 Vabout 8 in diameter. The combination of disk 46, pulley 38, disk 47, disk 48 and disk 49 are centered on shaft 32 midway between side members 24 and 25 and are adapted to rotate thereon as a unit. Conveyor unit 32 is so located that the vertical from the center line of shaft 32 at the intersection between disk 48 and disk 49 intersects the edge of turntable 14. To further locate shaft 32, shaft 32 is located 14 off the center line of turntable 14 where turntable 14 is 40" in diameter, and the center line of belt 39 is 125/16 behind the center line of turntable 14.

The clearance between turntable 14 (measured at a plane corresponding with its edge) and the bottom of the 81/2 rubber disk 49 is 8, while the clearance between the bottom of belt 39 is 9". Since the ball diameter is in the range between 8.500 and 8.595 it is obvious that the ball can pass beneath belt 39 but not beneath disk 49.

A ball guard 52 is provided between side mem-ber 24 and backstop 13 and is mounted on side member 24. Ball guard 52 extends generally horizontally toward the center of pit 11 parallel to backstop 13 with its lower edge approximately 91/2 above the level of the edge of turntable 14. At the edge of ball guard 52 toward the center of pit 11 there is provided a ball guard extension 53 which extends generally vertically and parallel to the downward run of belt 39 and is directed toward the back of pit 11. Ball guard extension 53 is generally rectangular in cross section with a cross section dimension of about 21/2 by 21/2". The edge of extension 53 adjacent belt 39 is located along the line of the edge of belt 39 and is separated therefrom by a distance of about 5%; inch. Below the plane of lower pulley shaft 32, ball guard 53 is shaped on a radius about shaft 32 maintaining the 5A; inch clearance between its inner edge and belt 39 and disk 46. The bottom of ball guard extension 53 is terminated approximately on a radius line centered on shaft 32 with its outer corner (the corner remote from shaft 32) located at a height of about 71/2" above the level of the turntable 14 and the inner lower corner adjacent belt 39 at a level about 81/2 above the level of turntable 14. As shown .a portion of ball guard extension 53 may be removed above the lower extremity thereof to provide better access to belt 39, pulley 38, etc. and the elements associated therewith. The lateral distance between the facing edges of ball guard extension 53 and pliable rubber disk 49 is approximately 2%.

Guide unit 23 comprises a pit pan 61 and vertical guide means `62. Pit pan 61 which replaces a section of contour in the left rear corner of pit 11 is a two-sided rectangular .structure provided with a side wall 63, a rear wall 64 and a curved floor 65. Floor 65 is generally a section of a cylinder with its axis coinciding with the axis of lower pulley shaft 32 of conveyor unit 22. The edge of floor 65 adjacent turntable 14 is set at the level of turntable 14 and is shaped horizontally to just clear the periphery of turntable 14. That portion of floor 65 which extends toward the center line of turntable 14 beyond the center liue of pulley shaft 32 is oriented horizontally.

A shaped iioor piece 66 about 2" Wide is provided in the corner between floor 65 and side wall 63 and is shaped such that the radius of floor piece 66 and side wall 63 is suiciently less than the radius of oor 65 that any object getting into the corner between oor 65 and side wall 63 will tend to roll back toward floor 65. To further prevent objects from jamming into the corner between floor 65 and side wall 63 a deector 67 which is slightly narrower than floor piece 66 is fitted onto side wall 63 above floor piece 66. Floor 65 exclusive of the portion occupied by floor piece 66 is about 10 wide. A portion of floor `65 is provided with a ball pad 68, a strip of high impact elastomeric composition about 4" wide.

The location of conveyor unit 22 relative to pit pan 61 is carefully adjusted so that the surface of ball pad 68 is (except for any portion thereof which may extend beyond the center line of lower pulley shaft 32 toward the center line of turntable 14) concentric with pulley shaft 32 and exactly 811/16" from belt 39. This it will be noted is slightly more than the diameter of the maximum size ball.

Vertical guide unit 62 includes two angle iron members 71 and 72 which extend vertically up through apertures 73 and 74 provided in tloor 65 of pit pan 61. (Ball pad `68 is arranged on oor 65 between apertures 73 and 74.) Channel members 71 and 72 are supported at the bottom by cross brace 75 which is pivotally mounted on arm 76 lwhich in turn is pivotally mounted on bracket 77 mounted on oor 78 of pit 11. Bracket 77 is offset toward the center line of turntable 14 relative to cross brace 75 such that arm 76 extends at an angle to channel members 71 and 72. A bracket 79 is mounted on the rear side of arm 76 and is adapted to receive therethrough adjusting bolt 81 which is mounted vertically on -oor 78. Bolt 81 is provided with a surrounding spring 82 located between floor 78 and bracket 79 and with an adjusting nut 83 adapted to contact the top of bracket 79. The adjustment of nut 83 provides minor adjustment of the position of guide unit 62 relative to conveyor unit 22.

Angle members 71 and 72 are additionally supported at an intermediate point adjacent the top of kickback 12 by means of cross brace 84 which comprises a bracket 85 and 86 extending rearwardly respectively from angle members 71 and 72 and a cross member 87 pivotallv mounted therebetween. Cross member 87 is provided with a pair of vertically extending adjusting bolts 88 which pass through apertures provided horizontally for that purpose in mounting block 89 which in turn is affixed to the top of kickback 12. Each bolt 88 is provided with a nut 91 adapted to contact the rear of block 89 and a surrounding spring 92 adapted to be compressed between cross member 8,7 and the front of block 89. The adjustmnte of nuts 91 and of nut 83 permits angle members 71 and 72 to be oriented precisely vertically and to be moved laterally relatively to conveyor unit 22.

Angle members 71 and 72 are arranged so that their open sides face each other and face conveyor unit 22. Tubular guide members 93 and 94 are arranged in angle members 71 and 72 and are fastened thereto. Each guide member 93 and 94 comprises a section of thick walled rubber tubing which has outside diameter of about 1" and extends the full length of angle members 71 and 72. A metal stiifening rod may be inserted in the apertures of each guide member if desired. Guide unit 62 is so fashioned that guide members 93 and 94 are separated by a distance of 4% inches and is so mounted that the center line between guide members 93 and 94 coincides with that edge of belt 39 which is adjacent disk 49. Angle members 71 and 72 are adjusted such that the line joining the surfaces of guide members 93 and 94 adjacent belt 39 is parallel thereto and exactly 7" therefrom.

The ball lift 21 as shown is of the version adapted for use in alleys where the ball return is along the right side of the alley. Here vertical guide unit 62 which, for purposes of denition, terminates at the plane of the axis of the pulley shaft 31 is provided with inwardly (Le. toward pulley shaft 31) extending extensions 95 and 96 and 97 and 98 of angle members 71 and 72 adapted to support guide members 93 and 94 in a circumferential relation about pulley 33. At a point above pulley 33 beyond the center line of upper pulley shaft 31 the ball is deposited on a pair of supporting tracks 99 to permit it to roll to the ball return.

Alternatively if ball lift 21 is to be used with an alley having the ball return on the left hand, side extensions (not shown) are provided for angle members 71 and 72 which extend upwardly at an angle away from conveyor unit 22 and which spread apart toward the top. The ball which has a spin towards guide members 93 and 94 since it is supported between moving belt 39 and stationary guide members 93 and 94 rolls up and through such extensions and onto support tracks (not shown) to roll back to the ball return.

Backstop 13 is positioned over turntable 14 with a clearance sufficient to pass pins lying on their side but not balls. In a typical case the lower edge of backstop 13 which extends horizontally is 61/2 above the surface of turntable 14 at the edge of turntable 14 and 51A" above at the center line of turntable 14. Turntable 14 is conical in shape and backstop 13 is located transversely of pit 11 behind the center of turntable 14. A ball door 1011 is provided in the bottom of backstop 13 centered approximately at the edge of turntable 14 in the position where the rotation of turntable 14 carries objects from the front of pit 11 toward the back. Ball door 101 is generally circular in shape and at its maximum elevation above turntable 114 clears turntable 14 by a distance of about Ball door 101 is provided with a flexible rubber skirt 102 which extends across ball door 101 to approximately the level of the bottom of backstop 13. The function of skirt 102 is to insure that a ball which may enter pit 11 with a considerable spin has lost that spin before entering the rear of pit 11 through door 101.

A ball entering pit 11 rolls down the tapered surface of turntable 14 until its side contacts contour 15 and is then carried around pit 11 by turntable 14 through ball door 101 in backstop 13. Passing through ball door 101 it is carried by the rotation of turntable 14 into contact with disk 48 and/or disk 49 mounted on lower pulley shaft 32, The rotation of the disks 38 and /or 39 spins the ball side Ways up ball pad 69 until it comes into contact with tubular guide member 93 which, it will be noted from FIG. 4, for example, is located approximately diametral from the inner side (i.e. the contact point) on disk 49. The continued rotation of disk 49 rolls the ball upwardly on guide member 93 until at a point above the horizontal center line of disk 49 the ball comes into contact with both guide members 93 and 94 and with belt 39. The upward motion of belt 39 rolls the ball to the top of ball lift 21 from whence it is discharged. The distance between guide members 93 and 94 and between belt 39 is such as to keep the ball in three point contact with a light compression of the tubular guide members 93 and 94. Excess compression such as that which may be caused by over-size balls is taken up by the compression of springs 92.

It will be remembered that both balls and pins are normally present on the turntable at the same time. The action of ball lift 21 is to literally pick a ball out of a group of pins leaving the pins relatively undisturbed. Using ball lift 21 the time for the return of the ball to the bowler averages under 12 seconds and has been timed as low as 6 to 7 seconds after the bowler has bowled that ball. The average time of return is generally shorter than the cycle of the machine.

Under some circumstances there may happen to be a pin in the way of the desired path of the ball in ball lift 21. In such instances the ball is prevented from passing under the bottom of belt 39 by ball guard extension 53 which acts as a Xed pivot point for the ball. Normally :in such circumstances the motion of the turntable and 'the motion of the ball between the `fixed pivot of ball guard extension 53 and moving disk 48 and/ or 49 is suficient to dislodge the pin.

However, and this occurs somewhat less than once in five hundred thousand cycles, it may be that the blocking pin is in a position from which it cannot be dislodged. In such event there is a substantial danger that other pins moving around on turntable 14 may start to jam up onto the ball causing a jam which may injure the machine. As soon as such pressure starts to build up on the ball by such other pins the side pressure on the ball will deflect ilexible disk 49 sideways permitting the ball to slip around ball guard extension 53 and beneath pulley 39 and disk 49 into a neutral area in the back of the pit.

I claim:

1. In a bowling pinsetting machine of the type adapted for use in conjunction with bowling games wherein the diameter of the balls exceeds the diameter of the pins,

said machine having a pit for receiving fallen pins and spent balls,

means associated with the floor of said pit for moving pins and balls therein along said oor toward a rear portion thereof,

and means associated with said pit for causing balls in their passage therethrough to travel one by one through at least a portion thereof along a predetermined path adjacent an edge of said oor,

a ball separating and lifting means associated with said pit comprising a rotating member and a ramp member,

said rotating member overlying said pit in a position to intercept balls moving along said predetermined path, the clearance between the lowest portion of said rotating member and the floor of the pit being suicient to permit the unimpeded passage of pins therebetween,

said rotating member including a rotating flexible disk positioned to contact the top portion of a ball moving along said path and adapted upon contacting such ball to deflect it out of said predetermined path at a substantial angle thereto toward a wall of said pit, said rotating member including a horizontal shaft upon which said disk is mounted, a pulley mounted on said shaft in a position ahead of said disk relative to the path of travel of said balls and a drive belt passing around said pulley, said drive belt having a vertical run facing the adjacent wall of said pit, said pulley having a diameter such that the clearance between said belt and the oor of the pit is in excess of the maximum diameter of said balls; said ramp member positioned on the wall of said pit in a position to receive balls so deflected by said disk, said ramp member including a concave, substantially quadrantal, cylindrical section, the axis of which substantially coincides with the axis of rotation of said rotating member, located immediately adjacent the edge of the floor of said pit substantially tangentially thereto, and a pair of spaced parallel vertical members intercepting said cylindrical quadrant near but inside the outer edge thereof; said spaced vertical members being so positioned relative to the vertical run of said drive belt that a ball contained therebetween will contact both vertical members and the surface of the belt simultaneously and relative to the said disk that the vertical member more remote from the disk is separated therefrom at the point of closest approach by a distance approximately equal to but slightly less than the diameter of a ball, means to rotate said rotating member, and means associated with said rotating member to prevent a ball not in said predetermined path from contacting said disk. 2. A -bowling pinsetting machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein both said vertical members include a compressible ball contacting member.

3. A bowling pinsetting machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pit is provided with a backstop suspended transversely across said pit, said backstop being separated from the floor of said pit by a distance which is greater than the diameter of said pins, but which is less than the diameter of said balls, wherein said means for moving balls along a predetermined path includes a rotatable turntable located at the oor of said pit, wherein said ball separating and lifting means is located behind said backstop relative to the direction from which said pit receives balls and pins, and wherein said backstop is provided with a ball passing aperture permitting the passage of balls from the ball receiving portion of said pit to said ball separating and lifting means.

4. A bowling pinsetting machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said turntable is conical in shape with the center higher than its edge, wherein said turntable is surrounded 9 10 by a raised contour lilling the space between the edge of 2,682,405 6/ 1954 Huck 273-49 said turntable and the Walls of said pit, said contour slop- 3,098,653 7/ 1963 Gruss et al. 273-43 ing toward said turntable, the junction of said contour and 3,111,316 11/ 1963 Congelli et al. 273-49 said turntable thereby forming a path for the travel of 3,256,017 6/ 1966 Dowd et al. 273-43 said ball through said pit, and wherein said ball passing 5 3,297,322 l/ 1967 Ernst et a1. 273-49 X aperture is located on said path.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner References Cited MAX R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,714,508 s/1955 Anderson 273-43 10 U-S- Cl- XR' 3,212,778 10/1965 Rice et a1. 273-43 273-49 

